found information on the chunnel train from london to brussels. but how do we get to bruges? is the station we arrive at the one we leave from? any particular train to take? what station do we go to? can't find clear info on line. so far.. trip not till spring. how far ahead to buy tickets for chunnel for bruges part.

then will also need to get back to brussels for a few days, but assume will figure that out when figure out first part. do we need ot buy these tickets ahead as well to save money?

Trains to Bruges leave from Brussels-Midi which is the terminus for the Eurostar from London. The trains leave about every 30 minutes with a destination of either Ostende or Knokke - see http://www.b-rail.be/main/E/index.php for schedule specifics.

Like a lot of airfares, usually the sooner you book the Eurostar
[ http://www.eurostar.com/dynamic/_SvB...CY=ESTAR&VT=EB ]
the cheaper the ticket. Btw, the Eurostar ticket is good for the train from Brussels to Bruges or vice versa - check out "any Belgian station".

This site...

http://seat61.com/

is a great help for European train travel...

Yes we have done this trip! You take the Eurostar to Brussels-Midi and then a local train to Bruges. It is very easy once you are there. Your Eurostar ticket includes the portion to/from Bruges - Brussels. To get back you just do the reverse.

Definitely book in advance at www.eurostar.com as the sooner you book the cheaper it is!

Have also done this and as mentioned it's quite easy. The transfer at Brussels-Midi was very quick - we had about a 5 min walk from Eurostar to the regional train to Bruges.

As freetoroam mentioned, when you get Eurostar tickets make sure you chekc/get the portion for ABS ("All Belgian Stations) which will include the connecting ticket at no additional charge.

"Trains to Bruges leave from Brussels-Midi which is the terminus for the Eurostar from London. The trains leave about every 30 minutes with a destination of either Ostende or Knokke"

WHICH station do we want?

Which station for Bruges? Bruges/Brugge. The trains stop at either Ostende or Knokke. The sea gets in the way. http://www.loughrigg.org/b-rail/full1.gif

the quickest route would be i think via Eurostar to Lille Europea then walk the 1/4 mile or so to Lille Flandres for hourly trains to Bruges

but the cheapest way would be via Brussels-Midi because of the ABS fare you get with Eurostar tickets - or 'All Belgian Station' fares that allow you to take any train from Brussels Midi after getting off a Eurostar train and then go free to any Belgian station. for this reason and as well as not having to change stations in Lille i would take this option. Plus the fare to Lille is about the same as that to Brussels, the way the pricing works.